A brief review of immunodiagnosis in the oncology shows the following.
In 1949 it was first mentioned by L. A. Zilber and in 1957 it was proved by T. Pran and G. Main that malignant cells have their own antigens.
According to Abilev there are 4 groups of antigens.
                1) Viral tumorous antigens. They are identical for any viral tumor of this type.        2) Carcinogenic tumorous antigens. They are individual for patients as well as for tumors.        3) Isoantigens of transplantation type or tumorous-specific transplantation antigens. They are different in all individual types of tumors, inducted by chemical agents. And they are the same in different tumors caused by the same virus.        4) Embryonic antigens.        
During the process of carcinogenesis, cells are put to dedifferentiation, thus they acquire an embrional structure. In them there are to be found embryonic antigens, specific to embryonic development of organisms. These antigens can immunize the organism against tumors. The more studied antigens are the following: α-fetoprotein and cancer embryonic antigen (CEA). The former is to be found by carcinoma of the liver, the latter—by adenocarcinmoma of the intestine, stomach, esophagus and pancreas.
Children having neuroblastoma, lymphosarcoma or tumor of the brain have α2—fetoprotein. Those who have carcinoma of the stomach have—fetal sulfoglycoprotein. The above mentioned antigens are localized inside the cell membrane or circulate in the blood.
There is a specific group of antigens, so called heterospecific antigens, existing. They could not be classified as heterologous to the organism, while besides tumors they exist in other normal tissues. Among heterospecific antigens there is a renal antigen, which exists as a norm in the kidney and in the tumor of liver—hepotoma.
Adenocarcinoma of kidney contains an antigen of lungs and liver.
The immunological diagnosis of malignant tumors based on indication in the subject's blood the above mentioned antigens, antibodies to them and on revealing sensitized to tumoral antigen lymfocytes.
Methods for diagnosing lymphosarcoma, neuroblastoma are based on revealing α-fetoprotein. (On revealing antibodies to CEA—see Method in the Patent RU, 2077725, G. 01 N 33/53).
On revealing heterogenous antigens see Patent RU N 2063768, 1991, A 61K 39/00, Patent RU N 2025734, MPK G 01 N 33/53, author's certificate USSR N 170922, author's certificate N 1589215.
In the author's certificate N 1805392 (G 01 N 33/53) the method for diagnosing cancer by lymphocyte antigens (H1a-b 35) is described.
In fact, no test of the existing level of diagnosis is universal. Revealing antibodies in blood is a less reliable test, for in human blood there is a very wide spectrum of antitumoral and tissue antibodies. There is no method existing for revealing specific universal tumors antigen.
In this field perspective is revealing sensitized lymphocytes which inhibit the growth of malignant cells. Though, they are active only against “their own” type of tumor.
Thus, the used methods for tumor immunological diagnosis do not satisfy in all respects the requirements of primary diagnosis of tumors, they are totally unsatisfactory in screening malignant neoplasms and groups of high risk. Therefore they may be used to a certain degree only in immunomonitoring healing of malignant tumors.
Failures in existing methods may be explained by the fact that the used antiserums against malignant tumorous antigens do not satisfy their own characteristics.